The Elf And The Swart Elf

“My my… that was fast.”

Standing there was a long-eared woman wrapped in mature, alluring charm.

Her hair and eyes shared Titancia’s fresh-green color, and combined with her long ears, she clearly carried the traits of the Elf race.

“Mm. I worked very hard.”

She said this and subtly signaled Jonah with her eyes.

It seemed she was creating a cover story to keep Jonah’s ancient magic a secret.

“With your abilities, Cia, I expected it to take three days.”

“If I get serious, this much is easy. More importantly — please take it already.”

“Oh ho, you’ve helped me quite a bit.”

Titancia pushed the small box forward almost forcefully, and the chairwoman accepted it with a smile.

“And who might that child be?”

“I’ll say this right now: I’m not giving him to you, Sister.”

“W-w-w-wait!?”

Titancia pulled Jonah close protectively, her wariness on full display.

Judging from that line, the chairwoman was apparently Titancia’s elder sister…

“My my, Cia showing that much possessiveness… not since Zeria.”

“None of your business.”

“Hehe, very well. Now, won’t you tell this big sister your name, dear boy?”

“W-wait—!”

Ignoring Titancia’s resistance, the chairwoman leaned her face close to Jonah.

Being an Elf and Titancia’s sister, she was extremely beautiful—

“Muu… if you want someone’s name, you should introduce yourself first.”

“Oh, let me have my fun.”

Realizing this was heading somewhere dangerous, Titancia pushed the chairwoman back.

“Nice to meet you. I am the Chairwoman of the Central Mutual Aid Association, Colette Alverich.”

“Ah… I-I’m Jonah.”

Jonah timidly accepted Colette’s outstretched hand and shook it.

“Um, Chairwoman Colette… you’re Titancia’s older sister, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then… Why do your surnames differ?”

Titancia’s surname was Figbloom, not Alverich.

Jonah’s confusion was perfectly reasonable.

“My my, sharp boy. But it’s simple, really. Cia is—”

“Sister.”

“Oh dear, don’t glare so hard. Sorry, Jonah—Cia gets mad, so I can’t tell you.”

“Ah… okay…”

It seemed the surname Alverich held some significance.

‘Maybe… like me, she abandoned her name…’

When Jonah left on his journey, he abandoned the Langheim name to sever ties with his past.

Titancia might have experienced something similar.

Still, the sisters seemed close—so perhaps only certain family relationships had strained.

“More importantly—the Swart Elf attacked again. If they’re being this blatant, someone needs to warn them. Because of them, Jonah was nearly targeted.”

“My, my… what troublesome people…”

Hearing Titancia’s report, Colette touched her cheek and sighed.

But Jonah had a question that bothered him more.

“U-um… what exactly are the Swart Elf? And why were they attacking Titancia…?”

“Hehe… the Swart Elf are descendants of fairies who lived in the same forests as we Elf.”

Colette smiled and began explaining in detail.

Both the Elf and Swart Elf were originally types of fairies, but long ago, they began interacting with the human world.

Fairies normally would never mix with humans. Because of this, both groups parted ways with the fairy clan.

Even so, as kin, a faint connection remained—now maintained only by the leader of the Elf.

“…Long ago, the Elf and Swart Elf lived peacefully together in this forest. But 500 years ago… a Demon King arose, uniting the demons and declaring war upon the world.”

Jonah knew that story.

It was written in the book of world legends he kept in his leather bag—the tale of the Hero and the Demon King.

Still, he had little interest in that legend, and it was low on his travel priorities.

A normal child might thrill at the Hero’s exploits, but it simply didn’t resonate with Jonah.

“At that time, the Demon King coveted the Swart Elf’s affinity for dark magic and recruited them. We Elf aided the Hero instead. In the end, the Hero triumphed and peace returned… but…”

Colette furrowed her brow, touching her cheek as she exhaled.

“The Swart Elf were branded traitors, persecuted by humans, and even abandoned by we Elf. Now they live quietly, exiled to what is called the Stygian Forest.”

“I-I see…”

Jonah listened to the whole explanation, yet couldn’t fully grasp it.

From the story, it made sense the Swart Elf would resent the victorious Elf and might attack Titancia.

But what Jonah couldn’t understand was—

“Um… do the Elf actually hate the Swart Elf? What do you ultimately want to do about them?”